philly

I've had the distinct pleasure to know the great Zoe Strauss for the last 4 years or so. Watching her style evolve and mature has been a pleasure to see in real time courtesy of her flickr account with 4k+ photos uploaded to date. Her I-95 shows are the coolest serial installation I've ever heard of. Walking through an area larger than a football field of photos is indescribable. And now, this – a book! And a book signing?! At the Quaker City String Band Mummer HQ on 2 St!

Published via AMMO BOOKS (buy it here), the book is a tight edit of her work over the last 8 years (she's only been taking photos for 8 years!). Flipping through it, emotions roll with each 2-up spread.

But getting back to the signing. I headed down with Lady, Andi and Addie. We met a whole host of friends too – Brad, Jill and her hubby, Mike and Kaela and a bunch of other familiar faces in the crowd. There was free pizza and Lager as promised (awesome!). And there were books and $5 prints for sale. We got there early and got our pick. Above is Zoe signing my book to me and Lady.

It's fun to describe the feeling of all of Zoe's events – there's a sense of jubilation, pride and community. This girl knows everyone by first name no matter how many times she's met them. Addie actually bumped into Zoe and Lynn on Black Friday down in South Philly for the first time; she was greeted with a big hug, typical Zoe. Everyone was all smiles.

And one final shot of us with Zoe giving us the "did these fools pay for that one?" look. Some more pics here.

It's a Zoe world, we're just passing through it. Congrats to you Zoe. Thank you for recording the beauty everyone else overlooks.

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